6 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.4 |
A darker version of the classic Gaston Leroux novel. A young soprano becomes the obsession of a horribly disfigured composer who has plans for those oppose himself or the young singer...
Starring: Robert Englund, Jill Schoelen, Bill Nighy, Alex Hyde-White, Molly ShannonHorror | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.84:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The face (so to speak) of musical theater was forever changed (for better or worse) in 1986, when Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart and Richard Stilgoe brought their version of the venerable The Phantom of the Opera to London’s West End, where it became an immediate sensation. By the time the musical opened on Broadway in 1988, it had moved beyond mere “sensation” status to become an increasingly global phenomenon. The overwhelming success of the musical may or may not have played into the 1989 film version of Gaston Leroux’s legendary tale of the deformed and demented Erik and his perhaps (perhaps not?) unwilling muse Christine, but there’s no doubt that the musical’s reach managed to touch at least one aspect of the film. In the closing credits, there’s a disclaimer that this particular Phantom of the Opera has “no connection” with any stage version. One has to wonder if the stage version’s iconic producer Cameron Mackintosh “reached out” himself to make sure that film producer Menahem Golan distanced the movie from the Lloyd Webber property. That said, despite an probably unnecessary framing device that transports part of the story to “present day” (i.e., 1989) Manhattan, this Phantom of the Opera hews relatively closely to Leroux’s original conception, with a couple of notable differences.
The Phantom of the Opera is presented on Blu-ray by Scream Factory, an imprint of Shout! Factory, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.84:1. Grain swarms rather heavily over this presentation, to the point that skin textures can look slightly crosshatched in close-ups. There are a few transitory issues with grain management, especially in some of the darker sequences. Colors look nicely lush and well saturated, with reds and blues popping especially well. There's good to very good detail and fine detail in more brightly lit shots especially, where things like fabric textures in costumes and sets can be made out quite clearly. Dark scenes however are often rife with crush, to the point that Schoelen's jet black hair simply becomes part of shadowy backgrounds at various points.
The Phantom of the Opera features DTS-HD Master Audio tracks in both 2.0 and 5.1. The 5.1 iteration significantly opens up the musical elements, providing a much wider soundstage for Misha Segal's very enjoyable score. Otherwise, though, there's not a whale of a lot of difference between the two, with both offering good reproduction of dialogue and the occasional sound effect. Fidelity is excellent and there are no issues of any kind to report.
Some of us who have made at least part of our living in musical theater tend to prefer Maury Yeston's Phantom to the Lloyd Webber piece, no matter what our wives may say. (Sorry if that got weirdly personal for a moment.) Much as musical fans actually have more than one choice for Phantoms, there are a glut of films and television properties that have attempted to dramatize Leroux's iconic tale. This particular one probably tries a bit too hard to inject a needless mythology that includes the kind of silly bookending sequences. On the other hand, once things settle down into Leroux's timeframe if not his locale, there's nice attention to detail, even if ultimately the screenwriters can't resist getting into the kind of shock value that Leroux probably never even imagined for his disfigured anti-hero. This Scream Factory release once again has some very appealing supplements, and technical merits are generally strong. Recommended.
2016
Indicator Series
1936
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1971
2015
Der Dirnenmörder von London
1976
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1971
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1962
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2015
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2013-2014
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